The US Navy strengthened its offensive capability in the F/A-18 Hornet and later the Super Hornet with a combat radius of about
500 nautical miles. In the last generation, the Navy operated well with these F-18 aircraft and operated over areas such as Iraq and Yugoslavia, where there was no threat to the aircraft carriers carrying this fighter, and therefore they could move close to land.
But China and Russia have deployed anti-aliasing weapons, which would likely push the ships a thousand miles into coastal waters, well beyond the reach of F/18s. The F-35B and its C variants, which are now halfway through their delivery, can reach targets approximately 400 and 625 miles from the carrier.
Unmanned refueling aircraft that can fly from such an aircraft carrier, such as the Navy’s MQ-25 Stingray program now in development, could alleviate this problem, but these drones are available in sufficient numbers. They are not and carry less fuel than their previous manned models.
Air Force refueling planes have enough fuel, but they are grounded and therefore very vulnerable to Chinese long-range weapons.
The existence of this problem necessitates the Navy’s plans to continue building aircraft carriers – the 100,000-ton Ford-class aircraft carrier supercarrier worth $13 billion – even when it does not have the ability to attack deep into the enemy’s soil.
The Navy missed an opportunity to solve this problem. 15 years ago, the Navy designed and built two X-47B stealth drones with a range of 1,050 miles. This aircraft was flown from Navy aircraft carriers in 2013 and 2014. This plane even refueled from the refueling plane without any problem.
This prototype could easily be developed to carry four thousand pounds of munitions to targets 1,500 miles away in repeated flight cycles without concern for pilot fatigue or skill. However, the program was terminated in 2015 by order of the then Navy. In 2015, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced that the F-35 would be the Navy’s last manned aircraft.
Until long-range attack aircraft, manned or unmanned, enter the Navy’s carrier air wing, carriers cannot make a meaningful contribution to deterring and, if necessary, winning conventional conflicts with China over Taiwan or elsewhere. To avoid this unfortunate outcome, civilian leaders, including lawmakers and the Secretary of the Navy, must step in to make this goal a reality.
“National Interest” magazine wrote in a report referring to the weakening of the power of the US Navy: “The facts show that the power of the US Navy in dealing with global crises has faced many challenges and while seeking to respond to the demands of its allies The US Navy is without an aircraft carrier in the Pacific for the first time since 2001, The Washington Times reported recently.
Combined with the inability of shipyards, even in peacetime, and the lack of Marines to support warships stationed in open waters, the operational capacity of the Navy is severely compromised.
The Indo-Pacific region, which is vital to US interests, has become vulnerable as resources are diverted elsewhere, especially the Middle East, the lack of aircraft carriers has created a critical gap in the western Pacific and threatens to weaken America’s strategic position and put it at a crossroads. Global developments.
The United States finds itself in a dangerous geopolitical environment. At the same time, the size of the US military, especially the Navy, has reached its lowest level since the years between the two world wars, and in the event of a war, it is unlikely that the Navy’s warships will be threatened by advanced systems. Of course, if advanced warships are destroyed or taken out of orbit, it will be almost impossible to replace them in wartime.
At the same time, the Marine Corps is suffering from manpower shortages as a critical component of US international fleet support. According to the New York Post, there are not enough experienced merchant mariners to guard all the ships at once.
The US Navy’s military command is drafting a plan to decommission 17 Navy ships and transfer them to other active duty ships due to a shortage of specialist ship crews. According to the report, the said ships will be decommissioned under the heading of “long-term repairs” and their crews will be transferred to other ships of the Navy. This action will prepare 700 crew members for transfer to other ships.
This is a significant problem because the Navy’s front-line warships, which are currently trying to restore America’s lost deterrence power in Eurasia, need support from Marines. If there aren’t enough Marines to guard every ship, a Navy on the brink of a world war will face huge supply chain problems.
According to Newsweek, the recruitment of active forces in the army and navy in the second month of fiscal year 2024 is 30 to 40 percent less than the recruitment targets. All branches of the US Armed Forces have seen a challenging and declining trend in conscription over the past decade. America is now facing an obvious reality; That it can no longer be the global police.
With the aim of compensating for the lack of manpower, the United States Navy has considered various measures, including more bonuses for new recruits, lowering educational standards and not paying attention to the history of using certain drugs during enlistment. However, the Navy did not meet its 2023 enlistment goals and was forced to increase recruitment in 2024. In addition to the problem of lack of manpower, the Navy also faces the challenge of inadequate shipbuilding capacity, and the reason for this is the excessive presence of American ships in the far corners of the world.
The US Navy must prioritize the Indo-Pacific even at the cost of losing Europe and the Middle East. Most of America’s top 10 trading partners are in Asia, so the Indo-Pacific region is the most important element of American foreign policy, as China has built the strongest and largest military in the region and is poised to completely destroy America’s declining power. “
